Field configurable patient support apparatuses

ABSTRACT

A patient support apparatus includes a frame, a support surface, an antenna adapted to be affixed to packaging of the patient support apparatus, and a control system for controlling various functions of the patient support apparatus. The control system includes communication circuitry that receives one or more configuration settings for configuring the patient support apparatus from an off-board device via the antenna. The communication circuitry receives and stores the configuration settings while the patient support apparatus is contained within the packaging and not physically coupled to an external source of electrical power. Configuration circuitry thereafter configures the patient support apparatus when the patient support apparatus is coupled to an external source of power or is supplied with power from a battery.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent applicationSer. No. 62/543,094 filed Aug. 9, 2017, by inventors Marco Constant etal. and entitled FIELD CONFIGURABLE PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES, thecomplete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to patient support apparatuses, such asbeds, cots, stretchers, operating tables, recliners, wheelchairs, or thelike.

Existing hospital beds often include an exit detection system thatdetects when the patient leaves the bed and notifies a nurse call systemthat the patient has left the bed. Existing hospital beds also ofteninclude a nurse call button and speaker that allow the patient tocommunicate with a remote nurse using the nurse call system. Still otherfeatures and/or information regarding the bed may also be communicatedto and/or through the nurse call system, or to a room control systemthat controls various aspects of the room in which the patient supportapparatus is positioned (e.g. volume, channel, and power of atelevision, room temperature, room lights, etc.)

In order for the bed to communicate this information to the nurse callsystem or the room controls, the bed must be configured in a manner thatcorresponds to the particular nurse call system and room controls thathave been installed in a particular healthcare facility, or a particularroom of a healthcare facility. This is because different manufacturersof nurse call systems and room control systems handle communications indifferent manners. Further, communication between the bed and thesesystems typically is carried out via a cable running from the bed to aport on a headwall, and the configuration of the headwall port may varyfrom room to room and/or from healthcare facility to healthcarefacility.

Existing hospital beds may also need to be properly configured in orderto carry out other functions in lieu of, or in addition to,communicating with a nurse call system. Such other configurationrequirements include, but are not limited to, configuration settings forenabling communication between the patient support apparatus and a localarea network of the hospital; configuration settings for one or moresensors incorporated into the patient support apparatus; configurationsettings for one or more optional components that are present on thepatient support apparatus; configuration settings for loading,executing, and/or retrieving software applications; and still othertypes of configuration settings.

SUMMARY

According to various embodiments, the present disclosure provides one ormore improved features for expediting and/or reducing the laborassociated with configuring a patient support apparatus. In someaspects, the present disclosure includes a patient support apparatusthat is automatically configurable by a user while the patient supportapparatus is still contained within packaging and/or not plugged into anelectrical outlet. In some aspects, the configuration is achievable by auser carrying a portable electronic device, such as, but not limited to,a smartphone or tablet computer. The user is able, in some embodiments,to configure the patient support apparatus by carrying the portableelectronic device to a location near the patient support apparatus andtransferring configuration data to the patient support apparatus fromthe portable electronic device. The portable electronic device, in someembodiments, uses an index that matches specific configuration settingsfor specific patient support apparatuses, or specific configurationsettings for specific installations, customers, or the like. Throughthese and other aspects, the patient support apparatus is more easilyconfigured and/or reconfigured.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a patient supportapparatus is provided that includes a frame, a patient support surface,an antenna, and communication circuitry. The antenna is adapted to beaffixed to packaging of the patient support apparatus and thecommunication circuitry is in communication with the antenna. Thecommunication circuitry receives and stores a configuration setting forconfiguring the patient support apparatus from an off-board device viathe antenna while the patient support apparatus is contained within thepackaging and not physically coupled to an external source of electricalpower.

According to other aspects of the present disclosure, the patientsupport apparatus also includes an electrical conductor having a firstend coupled to a port and a second end coupled to the antenna. The firstend is adapted to break away from the port when the packaging is removedfrom the patient support apparatus, and the second end is adapted toremain affixed to the packaging when the packaging is removed from thepatient support apparatus.

The communication circuitry receives electrical power from the off-boarddevice via the antenna and uses the received electrical power to storethe configuration setting.

The communication circuitry, in some embodiments, is adapted to transmitan identifier through the antenna to the off-board device. Theidentifier uniquely identifies the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus further comprises aplurality of switches, an interface, and configuration circuitry. Theinterface is adapted to receive a nurse call cable and includes amulti-pin connector in electrical communications with the plurality ofswitches such that a nurse call system off-board the patient supportapparatus is able to determine a status of the plurality of switches viasignals sent through the nurse call cable. The configuration circuitrycommunicates with the communication circuitry and sets an initial stateof the plurality of switches based on the configuration setting.

The patient support apparatus may further comprise an exit detectionsystem adapted to detect when a patient exits from the support surface.The exit detection system changes a state of at least one of theswitches in response to detecting a patient exiting from the supportsurface.

In some embodiments, the communication circuitry receives an identifierfrom the off-board device and uses the configuration setting from theoff-board device only if the identifier matches an authorizedidentifier.

The off-board device may be a handheld electronic device adapted to becarried by a user, such as, but not limited to, a smart phone, a tabletcomputer, or a laptop.

The patient support apparatus also includes a network transceiver, insome embodiments. The network transceiver is adapted to communicate witha local area network when the patient support apparatus is physicallycoupled to an external source of electrical power. The networktransceiver is separate from the communication circuitry.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a patientsupport apparatus is provided that includes a frame, a patient supportsurface, an interface, a plurality of switches, an antenna, andcommunication circuitry. The interface is adapted to couple to a cablehaving a plurality of electrical conductors. The plurality of switchesare electrically coupled to the interface. The antenna is adapted towirelessly communicate with an off-board device. The communicationcircuitry transmits an identifier through the antenna to the off-boarddevice and the identifier uniquely identifies the patient supportapparatus. The communication circuitry is further adapted to receivefrom the off-board device a configuration setting for configuring theplurality of switches.

According to other aspects of the present disclosure, the patientsupport apparatus includes a display in communication with thecommunication circuitry. The display is adapted to display an indicatorindicating that the configuration setting has been successfully receivedfrom the off-board device.

The antenna may be part of a near field transceiver adapted tocommunicate with the off-board device using near field communication.Alternatively, or additionally, the antenna and/or transceiver may beadapted to allow communication over a relatively short range so that thepatient support apparatus is only configurable by an off-board devicepositioned within the vicinity of the patient support apparatus.

In some embodiments, the off-board device is a handheld electronicdevice adapted to be carried by a user.

The communication circuitry, in some embodiments, is adapted to receivemultiple sets of configuration settings from the off-board device whilethe patient support apparatus is not coupled to a power source. Acontroller is included with the patient support that selects one of themultiple sets of configuration settings when the patient supportapparatus is coupled to a power source. The selection may be based upona current location of the patient support apparatus, and/or otherfactors.

In some embodiments, the communication circuitry is adapted to transmitthe identifier through the antenna while the patient support apparatusis contained within packaging and not physically coupled to an externalsource of electrical power. The antenna may be affixed to the packaging.When affixed to the packaging, the patient support apparatus includes anelectrical conductor having a first end coupled to the communicationcircuitry and a second end coupled to the antenna. The first end isadapted to break away from the communication circuitry when thepackaging is removed from the patient support apparatus, and the secondend is adapted to remain affixed to the packaging when the packaging isremoved from the patient support apparatus. The electrical conductor isthereafter discarded or recycled with the packaging.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a patientsupport apparatus is provided that includes a frame, a patient supportsurface, an antenna, a first electronic memory, a second electronicmemory, and communication circuitry. The first electronic memory storesinstructions used by a processor onboard the patient support apparatusand the first electronic memory requires an onboard battery or a powercord connection of the patient support apparatus to an electrical outletin order for data to be written to the first electronic memory. Thesecond electronic memory allows data to be written thereto usingelectrical power wirelessly supplied from an off-board device. Thecommunication circuitry is adapted to receive a configuration settingfor configuring the patient support apparatus from the off-board devicevia the antenna. The communication circuitry is also adapted to storethe configuration setting in the second electronic memory after receipt.

In other aspects, the configuration circuitry is adapted to configurethe patient support apparatus in accordance with the configurationsetting when the patient support apparatus receives electrical powerfrom an onboard battery or from a power cord connected to an electricaloutlet.

According to still another embodiment of the present disclosure, aconfiguration tool is provided that is adapted to be used forconfiguring a plurality of switches on a patient support apparatus thatare electrically coupled to an interface and that are adapted to changestates in order to communicate data to a nurse call system. Theconfiguration tool includes a memory, a transceiver, and a controller.The memory is adapted to store an index matching unique identifiers ofpatient support apparatuses with corresponding configuration settingsfor the patient support apparatuses. The transceiver is adapted toreceive a unique identifier from a particular patient support apparatus,and the controller is adapted to use the index to retrieve from thememory a particular configuration setting corresponding to the receivedunique identifier and to transmit to the particular patient supportapparatus the particular configuration setting.

In some embodiments, the controller is further adapted to receive theindex from an off-board device, which may be a server managed by amanufacturer of the particular patient support apparatus, or anothertype of device.

In some embodiments, the configuration tool is a smart phone having anapp installed thereon adapted to enable the smart phone to communicatewith a patient support apparatus transceiver on the particular patientsupport apparatus.

The transceiver is a near field transceiver, in some embodiments.

The unique identifier may be a serial number, or another type of uniqueidentifier.

In at least one embodiment, the index includes information identifying acustomer of the particular patient support apparatus and theconfiguration tool is further adapted to display on a display of theconfiguration tool information identifying the customer.

Before the various embodiments disclosed herein are explained in detail,it is to be understood that the claims are not to be limited to thedetails of operation or to the details of construction and thearrangement of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The embodiments described herein arecapable of being practiced or being carried out in alternative ways notexpressly disclosed herein. Also, it is to be understood that thephraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of“including” and “comprising” and variations thereof is meant toencompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well asadditional items and equivalents thereof. Further, enumeration may beused in the description of various embodiments. Unless otherwiseexpressly stated, the use of enumeration should not be construed aslimiting the claims to any specific order or number of components. Norshould the use of enumeration be construed as excluding from the scopeof the claims any additional steps or components that might be combinedwith or into the enumerated steps or components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a patient support apparatus according toa first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the patient support apparatus of FIG. 1 showncommunicatively coupled to an illustrative IT infrastructure of ahealthcare facility;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a plurality of components of the patient supportapparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of packaging containing the patient supportapparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partial view of a conductor coupled at one end to an antennaincorporated into the packaging of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partial view of the other end of the conductor of FIG. 5shown coupled to a circuit board of the patient support apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an off-board tool used to configure the patientsupport apparatus; and

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a method for configuring the patient supportapparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

An illustrative patient support apparatus 20 according to a firstembodiment of the present disclosure is shown in FIG. 1. Although theparticular form of patient support apparatus 20 illustrated in FIG. 1 isa bed adapted for use in a hospital or other medical setting, it will beunderstood that patient support apparatus 20 could, in differentembodiments, be a cot, a stretcher, a recliner, a wheelchair, anoperating table, or any other structure capable of supporting a patientin a healthcare environment.

In general, patient support apparatus 20 includes a base 22 having aplurality of wheels 24, a pair of lifts 26 supported on the base 22, alitter frame 28 supported on the lifts 26, and a support deck 30supported on the litter frame 28. Patient support apparatus 20 furtherincludes a footboard 32 located at a foot end 34 of patient supportapparatus 20. A plurality of siderails 36 are included and positionedalong the sides of patient support deck 30. Siderails 36 are all shownin a raised position in FIG. 1 but are each individually movable to alower position in which ingress into, and egress out of, patient supportapparatus 20 is not obstructed by the lowered siderails 36.

Lifts 26 are adapted to raise and lower litter frame 28 with respect tobase 22. Lifts 26 may be hydraulic actuators, pneumatic actuators,electric actuators, or any other suitable device for raising andlowering litter frame 28 with respect to base 22. In the illustratedembodiment, lifts 26 are operable independently so that the tilting oflitter frame 28 with respect to base 22 can also be adjusted. That is,litter frame 28 includes a head end 37 and a foot end 34, each of whoseheight can be independently adjusted by the nearest lift 26. Patientsupport apparatus 20 is designed so that when an occupant lies thereon,his or her head will be positioned adjacent head end 38 and his or herfeet will be positioned adjacent foot end 34.

Litter frame 28 provides a structure for supporting support deck 30,footboard 32, and siderails 36. Support deck 30 provides a supportsurface for a mattress and patient (neither shown in FIG. 1). Themattress may be an air, fluid, or gel mattress, or still another type ofmattress. Alternatively, another type of soft cushion may be supportedon support deck 30 so that a person may comfortably lie and/or sitthereon. Support deck 30 is made of a plurality of sections, some ofwhich are pivotable about generally horizontal pivot axes. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 1, support deck 30 includes a head section 42,a seat section 44, a thigh section 46, and a foot section 48. Headsection 42, which is also sometimes referred to as a Fowler section, ispivotable about a generally horizontal pivot axis between a generallyhorizontal orientation (not shown in FIG. 1) and a plurality of raisedpositions (one of which is shown in FIG. 1). Thigh section 46 and footsection 48 may also be pivotable about generally horizontal pivot axes.

Patient support apparatus 20 further includes a user interface 40 thatenables a user of patient support apparatus 20, such as a caregiverassociated with the patient who occupies patient support apparatus 20,to control one or more aspects of patient support apparatus 20. Suchaspects include, but are not limited to, changing a height of supportdeck 30, raising or lowering head section 42, activating anddeactivating a brake for wheels 24, arming and disarming an exitdetection system 50 (FIG. 2) and, as will be explained in greater detailbelow, configuring patient support apparatus 20 to properly communicatewith the particular IT infrastructure installed in the healthcarefacility in which patient support apparatus 20 is positioned.

User interface 40 is implemented in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 as acontrol panel having a lid (flipped down in FIG. 1) underneath which ispositioned a plurality of controls. The controls may be implemented asbuttons, dials, switches, or other devices. User interface 40 may alsoinclude a display 52 (FIG. 3) for displaying information regardingpatient support apparatus 20. The display is a touchscreen in someembodiments. Although FIG. 1 illustrates user interface 40 mounted tofootboard 32, it will be understood that user interface 40 can bepositioned elsewhere.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, litter frame 28 is supported on lifts 26via a plurality of load cells, or other type of force sensors. In manyembodiments, four such load cells are included, although it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that different numbers of loadcells may be used in accordance with the principles of the presentdisclosure. The load cells are configured to support litter frame 28such that they provide complete and exclusive mechanical support forlitter frame 28 and all of the components that are supported on litterframe 28 (e.g. support deck 30, footboard 32, siderails 36, etc.).Because of this construction, the load cells are adapted to detect theweight of not only those components of patient support apparatus 20 thatare supported by litter frame 28 (including litter frame 28 itself), butalso any objects or persons who are wholly or partially being supportedby support deck 30.

The load cells are part of an exit detection system 50 (FIG. 3) thatwill be discussed in greater detail below. In general, exit detectionsystem 50, when armed via user interface 40, determines when an occupantof patient support apparatus 20 has left, or is likely to leave, patientsupport apparatus 20, and issues an alert and/or notification toappropriate personnel so that proper steps can be taken in response tothe occupant's departure (or imminent departure) in a timely fashion. Inat least one embodiment, exit detection system 50 monitors the center ofgravity of the patient using the system and method disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,432 issued to Travis and entitled PATIENTEXIT DETECTION MECHANISM FOR HOSPITAL BED, the complete disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference. In other embodiments, exitdetection system 50 determines if the occupant is about to exit, oralready has exited, from patient support apparatus 20 by determining adistribution of the weights detected by each load cell and comparing thedetected weight distribution to one or more thresholds. In suchembodiments, the center of gravity may or may not be explicitlycalculated.

Other manners for functioning as an exit detection system are alsopossible. These include, but are not limited to, any of the mannersdisclosed in the following commonly assigned patent applications: U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/873,734 filed Oct. 2, 2015, by inventorsMarko Kostic et al. and entitled PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH MOTIONMONITORING; U.S. patent publication 2016/0022218 filed Mar. 13, 2014, byinventors Michael Hayes et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSWITH PATIENT INFORMATION SENSORS; and U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/266,575 filed Sep. 15, 2016, by inventors Anuj Sidhu et al. andentitled PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH EXIT DETECTION SYSTEMS, thecomplete disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein byreference. Further, in some embodiments, the load cells may be part ofboth exit detection system 50 and a scale system that measures theweight of a patient supported on support deck 30. The outputs from theload cells are processed, in some embodiments, in any of the mannersdisclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No.62/428,834 filed Dec. 1, 2016, by inventors Marko Kostic et al. andentitled PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH LOAD CELLS, the completedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In still other embodiments, exit detection system 50 may be constructedwithout using any load cells. Some examples of exit detection systems 50that do not utilize load cells are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/346,779 filed Nov. 9, 2016, by inventorsMarko Kostic et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITHACCELERATION DETECTION; commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/003,157 filed Oct. 14, 2013, by inventors Joshua Mix et al. andentitled SENSING SYSTEM FOR PATIENT SUPPORTS; and commonly assigned U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/579,630 filed Dec. 22, 2014, by inventorsRichard Derenne et al. and entitled VIDEO MONITORING SYSTEM, thecomplete disclosures of which are all incorporated herein by reference.Still other types of exit detection systems may be used, includingcombinations of any of the aforementioned systems.

Those aspects of the mechanical construction of patient supportapparatus 20 that are not explicitly described herein are implemented,in some embodiments, in the same way, or nearly the same way, as foundin the Model 3002 S3 bed manufactured and sold by Stryker Corporation ofKalamazoo, Mich. The mechanical construction of this bed is described ingreater detail in the Stryker Maintenance Manual for the MedSurg Bed,Model 3002 S3, published in 2010 by Stryker Corporation of Kalamazoo,Mich., the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that thoseaspects of the mechanical construction of patient support apparatus 20not explicitly described herein can also or alternatively be designed inother manners, such as, but not limited to, the manners described incommonly assigned, U.S. Pat. No. 7,690,059 issued to Lemire et al., andentitled HOSPITAL BED; and/or commonly assigned U.S. Pat. publicationNo. 2007/0163045 filed by Becker et al. and entitled PATIENT HANDLINGDEVICE INCLUDING LOCAL STATUS INDICATION, ONE-TOUCH FOWLER ANGLEADJUSTMENT, AND POWER-ON ALARM CONFIGURATION, the complete disclosuresof both of which are also hereby incorporated herein by reference. Themechanical aspects of patient support apparatus 20 not described hereinmay also take on forms different from what is disclosed in theaforementioned references.

FIG. 2 illustrates patient support apparatus 20 coupled to the ITinfrastructure 54 of a healthcare facility 56 according to one commonconfiguration. As shown therein, healthcare facility 56 includes aheadwall 58, one or more room controls 60, a nurse call system 62, aplurality of rooms 64 (64 a, 64 b . . . 64 x), one or more nurses'stations 66, a local area network 68, one or more wireless access points70, a patient support apparatus server 72, and one or more networkappliances 74 that couple LAN 68 to the internet 76, thereby enablingservers and other applications on LAN 68 to communicate with computersoutside of healthcare facility 56, such as, but not limited to, ageographically remote server 78.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the particularcomponents of the IT infrastructure 54 of healthcare facility 56 shownin FIG. 2 may vary widely. For example, patient support apparatus 20 maybe used in healthcare facilities having no wireless access points 70, noconnection to the internet 76 (e.g. no network appliances 74), and/or nopatient support apparatus server 72. Still further, local area network68 may include other and/or additional servers installed thereon, andnurse call system 62, in some healthcare facilities 56, may not becoupled to the local area network 68. Patient support apparatus 20 iscapable of being installed in healthcare facilities 56 having stillother variations of the IT infrastructure 54 illustrated in FIG. 2. Itwill therefore be understood that the particular IT infrastructure 54shown in FIG. 2 is merely illustrative, and that patient supportapparatus 20 is constructed to be communicatively coupled to ITinfrastructures arranged differently from that of FIG. 2.

Patient support apparatus 20 is coupled to a data port 80 on headwall 58by way of a cable 82. Data port 80, in turn, is coupled to one or morecables or other conductors 84 that electrically couple the data port 80to nurse call system 62 and to one or more room controls 60. Conductors84 are typically located behind headwall 58 and not visible. In somehealthcare facilities, conductors 84 may first couple to a roominterface board that includes one or more conductors 84 for electricallycoupling the room interface board to room controls 60 and/or nurse callsystem 62. Still other communicative arrangements for coupling data port80 to nurse call system 62 and/or one or more room controls 60 arepossible.

Room controls 60 are conventional room controls that control one or moreaspects of the particular room 64 in which the corresponding data port80 is located. The particular aspects controlled by room controls 60 mayvary from healthcare facility to healthcare facility depending upon theparticular manufacturer of the room controls 60 and/or the manner inwhich the room controls have been installed, but generally include suchitems as controls for an in-room television (e.g. volume, channel, andpower), controls for heating or air conditioning, controls for one ormore room lights, and/or controls for opening and closing windowcoverings. Still other room controls may be included. Further, in someembodiments, patient support apparatus 20 may be communicatively coupledto IT infrastructure that includes no room controls 60, and/or thatincludes room controls 60 in only some rooms, and/or that includesdifferent types of room controls 60 in different rooms.

Cable 82 includes a first end having a first connector 86 and a secondend having a second connector 88 (FIG. 2). First connector 86 is adaptedto be plugged into a cable interface 90 positioned on patient supportapparatus 20. Second connector 88 is adapted to be plugged into dataport 80. In many healthcare facilities 56, data port 80 is configured asa 37-pin receptacle. In such facilities, cable 82 includes first andsecond connectors 88 and 88 having 37 pins (one of which may be a maleconnector and the other of which may be a female connector). Other typesof connectors may also be used, depending upon the configuration of dataport 80, such as, but not limited to, connectors having different numberof pins. Patient support apparatus 20 is adapted to communicate with allof these different types of data ports 80 via an appropriately selectedcable (e.g. one with the proper connectors 86, 88 on its ends). Incombination with the proper cable 82, such communication is enabled byconfiguring patient support apparatus 20 in one or more of the mannersdescribed in more detail below.

Cable 82 enables patient support apparatus 20 to communicate with nursecall system 62 and/or room controls 60. A patient supported on patientsupport apparatus 20 who activates a nurse call control on patientsupport apparatus 20 causes a signal to be conveyed via cable 82 to thenurse call system 62, which forwards the signal to one or more remotelylocated nurses (e.g. nurses at one of the nurses' stations 66). If thepatient activates one or more room controls, a signal is conveyed viacable 82 to the room controls 60 that changes one or more aspects of theroom in which he or she is located (e.g. change the volume of atelevision). In order for patient support apparatus 20 to properlycommunicate with room controls 60 and nurse call system 62, patientsupport apparatus 20 needs to be configured in a manner that matches theparticular room controls 60 and nurse call system 62 that are installedin the particular healthcare facility 56 in which patient supportapparatus 20 is located. In other words, different healthcare facilities56 may utilize different brands and/or models of nurse call systems 62,as well as different brands and/or models of room control equipment.Still further, different healthcare facilities may utilize differenttypes of data ports 80 for communicating with nurse call system 62 androom controls 60. In addition, in some healthcare facilities, differentrooms of the healthcare facility may have different types of data ports80, different room controls 60, and/or be connected to different typesof nurse call systems 62.

Patient support apparatus 20 is designed to be more easily configuredsuch that it can communicate with the different data ports 80, roomcontrols 60, and/or nurse call systems 62 that are present in differenthealthcare facilities and/or in different locations of a particularhealthcare facility. In the past, hospital beds and other patientsupport apparatuses are typically configured for communication with aparticular hospital's IT infrastructure at the factory where the bedsare made. The configuration is typically performed manually before thebed is packaged and shipped to a particular healthcare facility 56. Theconfiguration process often involves choosing the right states for eachone of a set of dipswitches that are integrated into the bed. Thedipswitches are often not placed at an easily accessible location, arenot easily changed if they are inadvertently configured incorrectly, andare not intuitive to set. As will be explained in greater detail below,patient support apparatus 20 is designed to overcome these and/or otherdisadvantages associated with the configuration of prior art patientsupport apparatuses.

Configuring patient support apparatus 20 for proper communication withnurse call system 62 and/or room controls 60 involves supplying patientsupport apparatus 20 with the knowledge of what data is communicated oneach of the pins of data port 80 (and interface 90), what electricalstate each of the pins is in when data is not being communicated (e.g.normally open or normally closed), and/or what pins are and are notelectrically coupled together. One or more of these factors may changewhen patient support apparatus 20 is used with a different nurse callsystem 62, a different data port 80, and/or a different set of roomcontrols 60.

Patient support apparatus 20 includes a control system 92 (FIG. 3) thatis adapted to be easily configured for communication with differentnurse call systems 62, room controls 60, and/or data ports 80. It willbe understood that some of the components of control system 92 may bevaried from what it shown in FIG. 3, and that, in some modifiedembodiments, one or more of the components may be omitted entirely.Control system 92 includes a controller 94, one or more sensors 96,communication circuitry 98, a nurse call control 100, a room control102, user interface 40, exit detection system 50, a memory 104,configuration circuitry 106, a network transceiver 108, and an antenna110.

Controller 94 may take on a variety of different forms. In theillustrated embodiment, controller 94 is implemented as one or moreconventional microcontrollers. However, controller 94 may be modified touse a variety of other types of circuits—either alone or in combinationwith one or more microcontrollers—such as, but not limited to, any oneor more microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays, systems on achip, volatile or nonvolatile memory, discrete circuitry, and/or otherhardware, software, or firmware that is capable of carrying out thefunctions described herein, as would be known to one of ordinary skillin the art. Such components can be physically configured in any suitablemanner, such as by mounting them to one or more circuit boards, orarranging them in other manners, whether combined into a single unit ordistributed across multiple units. The instructions followed bycontroller 94 when carrying out the functions described herein, as wellas the data necessary for carrying out these functions, are stored inmemory 104 and/or another memory accessible to controller 94.

Sensors 96 may take on a variety of forms, and include such things as abrake sensor, motor encoders, patient sensors, and others. Communicationcircuitry 98 is used to communicate with a portable electronic device(e.g. off-board device 128 discussed below) that transfers configurationsettings to patient support apparatus 20, as will be discussed ingreater detail below. Nurse call control 100 includes one or morecontrols on patient support apparatus 20 that are used by a patient toutilize nurse call system 62, such as, but not limited to, a nurse callbutton. Room control 102 includes one or more controls on patientsupport apparatus 20 that are used by the patient to control one or moreaspects of the room in which patient support apparatus 20 is positioned,such as a television, temperature, lighting, and the like. Userinterface 40 allows the caregiver and/or patient to control the movementof patient support apparatus 20, as well as other aspects, such as exitdetection system 50. Memory 104 stores instructions executed bycontroller 94, as well as other data utilized in carrying out thefunctions described herein. Configuration circuitry 106 is electricallycoupled to cable interface 90 and controls how interface 90 interactswith cable 82 when first connector 86 of cable 82 is coupled to cableinterface 90. In other words, configuration circuitry 106 configurespatient support apparatus 20 for communication with the particular nursecall system 62 and/or room controls 60 that are installed in aparticular healthcare facility or room of a healthcare facility.

It will be understood that cable interface 90 is shown in FIG. 3 ashaving only eight pins 112. This is done merely for purposes of compactillustration. Cable interface 90 typically includes thirty-seven pins inorder to match the number of pins on first connector 86 of cable 82. Insuch situations, configuration circuitry 106 is expanded from what isshown in FIG. 3 in order to accommodate the additional pins 112 of cableinterface 90. This expansion includes a larger memory 114, additionalswitches 116, and other changes that would be understood by one skilledin the art in light of the following description. In some otherembodiments, patient support apparatus 20 may be further modified toinclude multiple cables interfaces 90 that are adapted to communicatewith different style connectors 88. In such embodiments, additionalelectrical connections are simply added between the configurationcircuitry 106 and the additional interfaces.

Each pin 112 of interface 90 is adapted to convey certain informationfrom patient support apparatus 20 to nurse call system 62 and/or roomcontrols 60. Each pin 112 conveys different information. In some commonconventional arrangements for interface 90, pin 3 is used to conveyinformation to room controls 60 indicating whether the occupant ofpatient support apparatus 20 has pressed a control on patient supportapparatus 20 to turn on or turn off a light in the particular room inwhich patient support apparatus 20 is located. In many instances, pin 3is electrically tied to pin 27 and patient support apparatus 20 commandsroom controls 60 to turn on or turn off the room light based on whetherthe connection between pins 3 and 27 is open or closed. For some roomcontrols 60, an open circuit between pins 3 and 27 indicates that theroom lights should be turned off and a closed circuit between pins 3 and27 indicates that the room lights should be turned on. For other roomcontrols, the opposite may be true. That is, for some other roomcontrols 60, an open circuit between pins 3 and 27 indicates the roomlight should be turned on and a closed circuit between pins 3 and 27indicates the room lights should be turned off. The different ways inwhich an open or closed switch or circuit between two or more pins areinterpreted by the room controls 60 requires patient support apparatus20 to be configured to properly communicate with room controls 60 forthe particular room patient support apparatus 20 is located in.

In addition to room controls, the various pins of cable interface 90also communicate information to nurse call system 62. This informationis likewise often communicated by opening or closing the electricalconnection between two pins. For example, when a patient presses a nursecall control, such as nurse call control 100 (which may be a button,switch, or the like), the electrical connection between pins 19 and 28is typically changed. These pins indicate to the nurse call system 62that a nurse call request has been initiated by the occupant of patientsupport apparatus 20. Depending upon the particular nurse call system62, it responds by illuminating one or more lights (e.g. a light in thehallway of the healthcare facility and/or a light at one or more of thenurses' stations 66). For some nurse call systems, the connectionbetween pins 19 and 28 should be open when no light is desired andclosed when a light is desired, while in other nurse call systems 62 theconnection between pins 19 and 28 should be open when a light is desiredand closed when no light is desired. Accordingly, patient supportapparatus 20 should be configured properly based upon the particularnurse call system 62 with which it is going to communicate.

It will be appreciated that the particular pin numbers illustrated inFIG. 3 are merely an arbitrary selection of pin numbers that have beenselected for illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Inone implementation, switch 116 a communicates with pins 19 and 28 toprovide information to nurse call system 62 about changing the state ofone or more lights associated with a nurse call event; switch 116 bcommunicates with pins 16 and 29 to provide information to nurse callsystem 62 about when a nurse or other caregiver has answered a nursecall request; switch 116 c communicates with pins 3 and 27 to provideinformation to nurse call system 62 about when a patient has initiated anurse call; and switch 116 d communicates with pins 30 and 31 to provideinformation to nurse call system 62 about when the patient has exitedfrom patient support apparatus 20. As noted, control system 92 of FIG. 3may be modified to include additional switches and communication withdifferent pins for conveying different information, as well as alteringwhich pins are coupled to the various switches 116.

In order to configure the normally open or normally closed state of theswitches 116 coupled to the pins of cable interface 90, control system92 utilizes one or more configuration settings received viacommunication circuitry 98. As shown in FIG. 3, communication circuitry98 includes a transceiver 118 and a configuration memory 120.Transceiver 118 is in electrical communication with antenna 110. In theillustrated embodiment, this electrical communication is accomplished byway of a temporary connecting cable 122. Temporary connecting cable 122has a first end 124 releasably coupled to transceiver 118 and a secondend 126 that is coupled to packaging used to package patient supportapparatus 20 when it is shipped to a customer. As will be discussed ingreater detail below, in some embodiments, second end 126 is firmlycoupled to the packaging such that the removal of the packaging causessecond end 126 to be pulled away from the patient support apparatus 20with the removed packaging, thereby causing first end 124 to separatefrom transceiver 118. After such removal, temporary cable 122 may bediscarded, recycled, or reused.

Communication circuitry 98 is adapted to communicate with an off-boarddevice 128 via antenna 110. Off-board device 128 is a handheld portableelectronic device that may take on different forms. In some embodiments,off-board device 128 is a conventional smart cell-phone with one or moreapps installed thereon that are configured to allow the type ofcommunication discussed below with communication circuitry 98 of patientsupport apparatus 20. In other embodiments, off-board device 128 is alaptop computer, a tablet computer, or other portable computer. In stillother embodiments, off-board device 128 takes on still other forms.

As will be discussed in greater detail below, off-board device 128 isadapted to communicate to communication circuitry 98 one or moreconfiguration settings for configuring one or more switches 116 used tocontrol the electrical state of one or more pins 112, and/or one or moreconfiguration settings for configuring other aspects of patient supportapparatus 20. Communication circuitry 98 is adapted to receive and storethe received configuration settings without requiring patient supportapparatus 20 to be plugged into an electrical outlet, without requiringpatient support apparatus 20 to be operating on battery power, andwithout requiring patient support apparatus 20 to even be turned on.Communication circuitry 98 is therefore able to receive and storeconfiguration settings from off-board device 128 while patient supportapparatus 20 is contained within packaging. The stored configurationsettings are used by patient support apparatus 20 when it is eventuallycoupled to a source of electrical power and powered on. When powered on,controller 94 reads the configuration settings stored in memory 120 andcopies them to memory 114. As will be discussed in greater detail below,configuration circuitry 106 reads the configuration settings stored inmemory 114 and changes the neutral states of one or more of switches 116based on the configuration settings stored in memory 114.

In some embodiments, communication circuitry 98 is comprised of apassive RF ID type tag that utilizes the electrical power received froman interrogation unit (e.g. off-board device 128) to generate anelectrical response to the interrogation unit. Communication circuitry98, however, is modified (in some embodiments) from such a passive RF IDtype tag such that, in addition to, or in lieu of responding to aninterrogation from off-board device 128, communication circuitry 98 usesthe electrical power it receives from the interrogation signal ofoff-board device 128 to write to memory 120 the configuration settingsfor patient support apparatus 20 that it receives from off-board device128. In those embodiments where communication circuitry 98 is configuredto also respond to the interrogation signals from off-board device 128,communication circuitry 98 may be configured to reply to off-boarddevice 128 with one or more different types of messages.

Although other types of communication circuitry 98 may be used, in atleast one embodiment, communication circuitry 98 includes one or moreintegrated circuit devices from the CryptoRF® family of integratedcircuit devices from Atmel Corporation of San Jose, Calif. For example,in one embodiment, an Atmel AT88RF04C CryptoRF® EEPROM Memory is usedfor configuration memory 120 and the RF interface of this devicefunctions as transceiver 118. Other types of integrated circuits and/orelectronic components can, of course, be used.

In at least one embodiment, communication circuitry 98 is adapted tocommunicate with off-board device 128 using near field communication(e.g. ISO/IEC 18092, ECMA-340, ISO/IEC21481, and ECMA-352, etc.) In suchembodiments, off-board device 128 and antenna 110 communicate usingmagnetic induction when off-board device 128 and antenna 110 are broughtwithin relatively close proximity to each other (e.g. about 5-6centimeters). This distance can be increased using various techniques,including, but not limited to, the flux concentrators disclosed incommonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/802,992 filed Mar.14, 2013, by inventors Michael Hayes et al. and entitled COMMUNICATIONSYSTEMS FOR PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES, the complete disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

In other embodiments, communication circuitry 98 is adapted tocommunicate using far field communication such that off-board device 128and antenna 110 are able to communicate when the two are not inrelatively close proximity. In some of such far field communicationembodiments, antenna 110 is integrated into the body of patient supportapparatus 20, rather than its packaging, thereby allowing temporarycable 122 to be omitted and avoiding, if desired, the incorporation ofany communication components (e.g. antenna 110) into the packaging ofpatient support apparatus 20.

Regardless of the communication protocol used between communicationcircuitry 98 and off-board device 128, the content of the messagespassed between communication circuitry 98 and off-board device 128 mayvary widely from one embodiment to another. In some embodiments,communication circuitry 98 is configured to send a unique identifierthat uniquely identifies that particular patient support apparatus 20 inwhich it is integrated. The unique identifier is a serial number, orother type of identifier, that identifies the patient support apparatus20. Additionally, or alternatively, communication circuitry 98 isconfigured to send a confirmation message after it receives one or moreconfiguration settings from off-board device 128. The confirmationmessage indicates to off-board device 128 that it has successfullystored the received configuration settings in memory 120. In thismanner, off-board device 128 is provided with an indication that theconfiguration settings it transmitted to patient support apparatus 20were successfully received and stored. Still other messages may bepassed between communication circuitry and off-board device 128.

In order to prevent unauthorized changes to the configuration settingsof patient support apparatus 20, communication circuitry 98 andoff-board device 128 are adapted, in at least some embodiments, toutilize encrypted communication and/or other security measures to ensurethat only individuals with authorized off-board devices 128 are able toset and/or change the configurations settings of patient supportapparatus 20. In one such embodiment, communication circuitry 98 isadapted to only store configuration settings received from off-boarddevice 128 in memory 120 if off-board device 128 transmits an identifierthat matches one or more authorized identifiers stored on board patientsupport apparatus 20 (such as in memory 120). Still other types ofsecurity measures are possible.

When communication circuitry 98 receives one or more configurationsettings from off-board device 128, it uses the electrical powertransmitted from off-board device 128 to store the receivedconfiguration settings in configuration memory 120, which is anon-volatile memory. Neither transceiver 118 nor configuration memory120 needs to be coupled to a battery on-board patient support apparatus20, nor does patient support apparatus 20 need to be plugged into anelectrical outlet coupled to a mains power supply. Instead, theelectrical power necessary for communicating with off-board device 128and storing the received configuration settings in memory 120 comeswirelessly from off-board device 128. After the received configurationsettings are stored in memory 120, they remain there until patientsupport apparatus 20 is powered on. In some embodiments, the timebetween receiving the configuration settings and the powering on ofpatient support apparatus 20 may be days or weeks. In this manner, apatient support apparatus 20 can be configured wirelessly usingoff-board device 128 while the patient support apparatus 20 is in thefacility of its manufacture (or a warehouse in which the patient supportapparatus 20 is stored prior to purchase, or another location), and thenlater shipped to a purchasers healthcare facility. When the patientsupport apparatus 20 is powered on at the purchasers healthcarefacility, no configuration work needs to be performed by the servicepersonnel who install the patient support apparatus 20 at the healthcarefacility because the configuration settings for that particularhealthcare facility were previously communicated to patient supportapparatus 20 via off-board device 128.

When patient support apparatus 20 is powered on, the battery or mainssource of electrical power provides electricity to controller 94 and therest of control system 92. Controller 94 reads from configuration memory120 the stored configuration settings and transfers the configurationsettings to memory 114, which is non-volatile (as is configurationmemory 120 and memory 104). Configuration circuitry 106 reads theconfiguration settings stored in memory 114 and automatically sets theneutral states of the plurality of switches 116 in accordance with theread configurations settings. The term “neutral state” used hereinrefers to the state of a switch 116 when no condition has been detected,or no desired action has been requested by the patient, caregiver, orpatient support apparatus 20 itself. Thus, for example, for those pins112 that communicate an exit detection alert (as detected by exitdetection system 50), the neutral state of the corresponding switch 116is the state of the switch (open or closed) when no patient exit frompatient support apparatus 20 has been detected. As another example, forthose pins that communicate a change to a room television (channel,volume, power, etc.) or a room light, the neutral state of thecorresponding switches 116 refers to the state of those switches 116when no change is being requested by a user (e.g. the patient has notpressed, or otherwise activated, one of room controls 60).

Controller 94 only transfers the configuration settings stored inconfiguration memory 120 to memory 114 once. Thereafter, theconfiguration settings remain in memory 114 and are used by controlsystem 92. Further, configuration circuitry 106 is configured such thatthe configuration settings stored in memory 114 are automaticallyimplemented by patient support apparatus 20 when it is powered up,regardless of whether or not controller 94 is operational or not. Inother words, once configuration settings are stored in memory 114, theneutral states of switches 116 are automatically configured inaccordance with the stored configuration settings via the hardwaredesign of configuration circuitry 106 without requiring any further useof controller 94. In this manner, control system 92 does not have towait for controller 94 to boot up and/or perform the task of configuringswitches 116 according to the configuration settings stored in memory114. Instead, the configuration settings stored in memory 114 areautomatically implemented in switches 116 without requiring any supportfrom controller 94.

In some embodiments, off-board device 128 is configured to transmitmultiple sets of configuration settings to communication circuitry 98that are used at different times and/or at different locations. In suchembodiments, controller 94 may be programmed to select one set of theconfiguration settings from memory 120 and transfer them to memory 114while either retaining the other set in memory 120 and/or copying theother set to memory 104. When the other set of configuration settingsare desirably implemented (such as when patient support apparatus 20changes rooms in a healthcare facility 56), controller 94 transfers theother set to memory 114 from either memory 120 and/or from memory 104.Location information may be determined based on data received by patientsupport apparatus 20 from patient support apparatus server 72 and/orlocation data received from other sources.

Several manners of automatically implementing one or more configurationsettings, as well as selecting sets of configuration settings based onlocation and/or other factors, are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S.patent application Ser. No. 62/481,949 filed Apr. 5, 2017, by inventorsKrishna Bhimavarapu et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITHRECONFIGURABLE COMMUNICATION, the complete disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference. Any of the configuration functions orconcepts disclosed in the '949 application may be added hereto and usedto supplement and/or replace any of the concepts disclosed herein. Also,details of how configuration circuitry 106 implements the neutral statesof switches 116 in accordance with the configuration settings stored inmemory 114 are also disclosed in the aforementioned '949 application. Asummary of those implementation techniques is provided below.

Controller 94 configures switches 116 by storing the particularconfiguration settings read from memory 120 in a memory 114, which maybe an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) orother type of non-volatile memory. Controller 94 stores the desiredconfiguration setting in memory 114 by communicating the settinginformation to memory 114 using an I-squared-C data bus 130. Data bus130 communicates with I-squared-C interface logic 132 which is adaptedto set the memory elements 134 of memory 114 to states corresponding tothe configuration setting read from memory 120. Memory elements 134, inturn, are in communication with switches 116 by way of a multiplexor136. Controller 94 uses the multiplexor 136 to set the neutral state ofeach of the switches 116. In some embodiments, each memory element 134identifies the neutral state of a corresponding switch 116. For example,in the embodiment of control system 92 shown in FIG. 3, memory element126 a stores the desired neutral state of switch 116 a, memory element126 b stores the desired neutral state of switch 116 b, and memoryelement 126 d stores the desired neutral state of switch 116 d.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, each switch 116 has beenimplemented as a MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field EffectTransistor) with its source coupled to one of the pins of cableinterface 90 and its drain connected to another of the pins of cableinterface 90. Its gate is electrically connected to multiplexor 136 andis either held at a low voltage or a high voltage, depending upon theconfiguration stored in the corresponding memory element 134 of memory114. In other words, the configuration information loaded into memory114 by controller 94 dictates whether a high voltage or a low voltage isoutput on configuration lines 130 of multiplexor 136. Configurationlines 130 each feed into an exclusive OR (XOR) gate 138. The output fromeach XOR gate 138 is fed to the gate of each switch 116 (after passingthrough an inverter).

Each XOR gate 138 also has an input connected to a control line 140whose voltage is determined by controller 94. The voltage on each ofcontrol lines 140 is changed by controller 94 in response to a conditionthat has changed (e.g. a patient exit is detected) or a request beingactivated (e.g. a nurse call button being pressed). In the absence ofany change or request, controller 94 sets control lines 140 to a lowvoltage. In such a state, the output from each XOR gate 138 isdetermined by the input that is fed into the XOR gate from configurationlines 130. Configuration lines 130 thus determine the neutral state ofthe corresponding switch 116. More precisely, configuration lines 130determine the inverse of the neutral state of the corresponding switch116 due to the presence of inverters 142.

For example, if line 130 a is a logic high and control line 140 a is alogic low, then the output from XOR gate 138 a will be a logic high andthe signal applied to the gate of switch 116 a will be a logic low (dueto inverter 142 a). On the other hand, if line 130 a is a logic low andcontrol line 140 a is a logic low, then the output from XOR gate 138will be a logic low and the signal applied to the gate of switch 116 awill be a logic high due to inverter 142 a. Still further, regardless ofwhether line 130 a is high or low, the output from XOR gate 138 willchange whenever the state of control line 140 a changes. That is, ifconfiguration line 130 a is high and controller 94 changes control line140 a, the output from XOR gate 138 will change, and if theconfiguration line 130 a is low and controller 94 changes the controlline 140 a, the output from XOR gate 138 will also change. Controller 94therefore uses control lines 140 to change the state of a switch 116 inresponse to a change in a condition being detected or a request beingactivated by a user of patient support apparatus 20.

Control system 92 allows a user to easily change the configuration ofswitches 116 so that the connections between pairs of pins in theirneutral state matches the neutral interpretation made by nurse callsystem 62 and/or room control system 60. This is accomplished bychanging the contents of memory 114. Thus, for example, if memoryelement 126 a is set to cause an output on configuration line 130 thatcreates a high impedance between the source and drain of switch 116 a(an effectively open state) when switch 116 a indicates a neutral statefor the parameter reported via pins 19 and 28, and if it is desired tochange this neutral configuration of switch 116 a, this is accomplishedby loading a new configuration setting into memory 114 that changesmemory element 126 a to its opposite (e.g. from high to low, or low tohigh). This change to memory element 126 a causes the signal onconfiguration line 130 to create a low impedance between the source anddrain of switch 116 a (effectively a closed state) for the neutralstate. When a condition is detected, or a request is received, bycontroller 94 that is to be conveyed to nurse call system 62 or roomcontrols 60 via pins 19 and 28, controller 94 changes the state ofcontrol line 140 a, thereby changing the state of the switch 116 a. Itcan therefore be seen that memory 114 determines the neutral states ofall of the switches 116 via the logical state of configuration lines 130while controller 94 changes those neutral states via control lines 140to the opposite state whenever a condition is detected, or a request ismade, that is to be communicated to a corresponding nurse call system 62or room control 60.

Controller 94 is further programmed to know which control line 140corresponds to which switch 116 (and its associated pin) so thatcontroller 94 knows which control line 140 to change whenever acondition is detected or a request is made. Thus, for example, if apatient exits patient support apparatus 20, exit detection system 50sends an exit detection signal to controller 94. In response controller94 switches the output on whichever control line 140 is coupled to theswitch 116 and pin that indicates when an exit alert has been detected.

By storing a configuration setting in memory 114, it is not necessaryfor controller 94 to retrieve a configuration setting from memory 120(or memory 104) every time controller 94 is powered or rebooted. Thisenables the state of patient support apparatus 20 to be properlycommunicated to cable interface 90 without having to wait for controller94 to read a configuration setting from memory 120 and install theconfiguration setting in memory 114. Further, if multiple configurationsettings are stored in memory 120, controller 94 is able to easilychange the configuration settings of patient support apparatus 20 withminimal effort on the part of a user. This enables patient supportapparatus 20 to not only be easily configured for a particularhealthcare facility, or a particular location of a particular healthcarefacility, but also to have its configurations changed when the patientsupport apparatus 20 is moved to a different location having a differenttype of nurse call system 62 and/or different room controls 60.

FIGS. 4-6 illustrate in more detail several physical aspects of oneembodiment of antenna 110 and temporary cable 122. As shown more clearlyin FIG. 4, patient support apparatus 20 is typically encased in someform of packaging 144 when it is being shipped from a manufacturingplant to a healthcare facility 56, or from another location to ahealthcare facility 56. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, packaging 144is shown as a box and/or relatively rigid rectangular structure thatencompasses a patient support apparatus 20. It will be understood,however, that packaging 144 may take on different forms. For example,instead of a box or rigid material, packaging 144 may comprise wrappedplastic, Styrofoam-type containers, bagging, combinations of any ofthese, and/or still other types of packaging. Regardless of the specificform of the packaging 144, antenna 110 is integrated into, adhered to,or otherwise positioned at a location on packaging 144 that is, in atleast some embodiments, visible to a user.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, antenna 110 is adhered to packaging144 by use of a permanent-type adhesive. Antenna 110 is also generallyflat and planar and oriented such that its generally planar shape isparallel to the generally planar portion of packaging 144 to which it isadhered. In this manner, antenna 110 does not “stick out” from packaging144, and therefore is less susceptible to being damaged. Further, bybeing generally flat and planar, antenna 110 adds little, if any, volumeto that of packaging 144, thereby enabling patient support apparatuses20 and their corresponding packaging 144 to be packed into the samespaces (e.g. truck trailers, railroad cars, etc.) during transport inthe same manner as packaging 144 that does not include antenna 110.

Antenna 144 is electrically coupled to temporary connecting cable 122.Temporary connecting cable 122 is electrically coupled at its oppositeend to a circuit board 146 (FIG. 6). This connection is accomplished, inat least some embodiments, using non-permanent adhesive. Circuit board146 includes one or more of the electrical components of control system92, such as, but not limited to, transceiver 118. Temporary cable 122therefore provides electrical communication between antenna 110 andtransceiver 118.

By using permanent adhesive to secure antenna 110 and cable 122 topackaging 144 and non-permanent adhesive to secure cable 122 to circuitboard 146, the removal of packaging 144 from the patient supportapparatus 20 contained therein causes the cable 122 to break away fromcircuit board 146. In other words, because cable 122 is attached withstronger adhesive properties to packaging 144 than to circuit board 146,the removal of packaging 144 from the patient support apparatus 20 alsopulls away cable 122, causing it to break its non-permanent adhesivebond with circuit board 146. After cable 122 is removed from patientsupport apparatus 20, it may be discarded with the packaging 144 and/orremoved from the packaging 144 and recycled or re-used.

By placing antenna 110 on packaging 144, personnel at a manufacturingplant of patient support apparatus 20, a warehouse in which patientsupport apparatuses 20 are stored, or at other locations, are able toconfigure patient support apparatus 20 while it remains inside itspackaging 144 and is not coupled to a source of electrical power. Thisfacilitates the configuration process for patient support apparatuses20, avoiding the need to make physical changes to any dipswitches, orthe like, on patient support apparatus 20, as well as allowing patientsupport apparatuses 20 to be manufactured with no particularconfigurations, stored, and then configured to a particular customer orinstallation when the patient support apparatuses 20 are sold or to bedelivered. In short, communication circuitry 98 facilitates abuild-to-stock manufacturing process for patient support apparatuses 20,rather than build-to-order manufacturing process.

FIG. 7 illustrates in greater detail one embodiment of an off-boarddevice 128. As shown therein, off-board device 128 includes a controller150, a display 152, a memory 154, and a transceiver 156. Additionalcomponents may be included beyond those shown in FIG. 7, such as one ormore user controls, a battery, and/or a cord/plug for coupling off-boarddevice 128 to a source of electrical power. Controller 150 is aconventional microcontroller, in at least one embodiment. It will beunderstood, however, that controller 150 may be modified to use avariety of other types of circuits—either alone or in combination withone or more microcontrollers—such as, but not limited to, any one ormore microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays, systems on a chip,volatile or nonvolatile memory, discrete circuitry, and/or otherhardware, software, or firmware that is capable of carrying out thefunctions described herein, as would be known to one of ordinary skillin the art. Such components can be physically configured in any suitablemanner, such as by mounting them to one or more circuit boards, orarranging them in other manners, whether combined into a single unit ordistributed across multiple units. The instructions followed bycontroller 150 when carrying out the functions described herein, as wellas the data necessary for carrying out these functions, are stored inmemory 154.

Controller 150 is programmed to control transceiver 156 and display 152in a manner that allows a user to wirelessly configure one or morepatient support apparatuses 20 while the patient support apparatuses 20are not connected to a source of electrical power, such as while thepatient support apparatuses 20 are contained within packaging 144.Off-board device includes one or more controls (not shown) that, whenactivated by a user, send a wireless message via transceiver 156 toantenna 110 of a nearby patient support apparatus 20. As notedpreviously, the electrical power radiated from off-board device 128 whentransmitting this wireless message is used by communication circuitry 98to power transceiver 118 aboard patient support apparatus 20 and enableit to respond to off-board device 128. In some embodiments, thisresponse from patient support apparatus 20 includes an identifier ofpatient support apparatus 20, and/or a confirmation that patient supportapparatus 20 has received the message from off-board device 128. Ineither case, off-board devices 128 is configured to display informationon display 152 indicating the message received back from patient supportapparatus 20. For example, if patient support apparatus 20 responds witha unique identifier of that particular patient support apparatus 20,off-board device 128 is configured to display that information ondisplay 152 so that a user is able to visually confirm the identity ofthe patient support apparatus 20 with which it is communicating.

In some embodiments, off-board device 128 is in communication with anenterprise resource planning (ERP) system operated by the manufacturerof patient support apparatus 20, and off-board device 128 receives fromthe ERP system information indicating what configuration settings itshould transmit to a particular patient support apparatus 20.Additionally, or alternatively, off-board device 128 includes a userinterface allowing a user to input the desired configuration settingsthat are to be transmitted to patient support apparatus 20. In someembodiments, the user interface includes a listing of nurse call systembrands and/or room interface board brands and, after the user selectsthe appropriate ones based on the intended destination of the patientsupport apparatus 20, controller 150 automatically selects theappropriate configuration settings for that particular nurse call systemand/or room interface board and transmits those to patient supportapparatus 20.

As was noted previously, off-board device 128 may be a conventionalsmart phone, a laptop, a tablet computer, and/or another conventionalelectronic device that is programmable and/or adapted to executeapplications. When implemented in this manner, controller 150 includesthe microcontroller and/or microprocessor of the smart phone, laptop,tablet, or the like, and memory 154 includes the built-in memory of thesmart phone, laptop, table, or the like. Similarly, display 152 andtransceiver 156 may refer to the integrated display and transceiversthat are built into the smart phone, laptop, tablet, or the like. Thesmart phone, laptop, tablet, or the like, executes one or more softwareapplications that carry out the functions described herein in mannersthat are known to a person skilled in the art. In alternativeembodiments, off-board device 128 is implemented as a custom devicededicated to communicating configuration settings to one or more patientsupport apparatuses 20, and/or to one or more other types of medicaldevices that are usefully configured using off-board device 128.

FIG. 8 illustrates in greater detail a configuration method 160according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. Configurationmethod 160 includes a handheld creation step 162 and/or an off-the-shelfhandheld purchasing step 164. Handheld creation step 162 refers to thedesign and creation of off-board device 128, which is advantageouslysized and designed to be portable and handheld. Handheld creation step162 is followed if off-board device 128 is to be a custom built device,as noted above. Alternatively, if off-board device 128 is to be based onan existing device, such as a conventional smart phone, laptop computer,tablet computer, or the like, as mentioned above, the existing device isprogrammed with the appropriate software at step 164.

At a manufacturing step 166, one or more medical devices aremanufactured. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 and theembodiments predominately discussed above, the manufactured product is apatient support apparatus 20. It will be understood, however, that othertypes of medical device products may be used with configuration method160. One such alternative medical device product is a wireless headwallunit that is physically coupled to a headwall of a hospital room andwirelessly communicates with one or more patient support apparatuses 20.The wireless headwall unit includes a wired connection to port 80 thatis coupled to a nurse call system 62 and/or one or more room controls60. The wireless headwall unit therefore typically needs to beconfigured to communicate correctly with the particular nurse callsystem 62 and/or the particular room controls 60 installed within aparticular room of a particular healthcare facility. Examples of suchwireless headwall units are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/819,844 filed Aug. 6, 2015, by inventors KrishnaBhimavarapu et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITHWIRELESS HEADWALL COMMUNICATION, and U.S. patent application Ser. No.62/481,949, filed Apr. 5, 2017, by inventors Krishna Bhimavarapu et al.and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH RECONFIGURABLECOMMUNICATION, the complete disclosures of both of which areincorporated herein by reference. Other types of products can, ofcourse, be manufactured at step 166 and used with configuration method160.

After one or more products are manufactured at step 166, the productsmay be subjected to a customary quality assurance review at step 168.Thereafter, the one or more products are packaged in packaging 144 atstep 170. After the product has been packaged, it may be sent to awarehouse at step 172 and/or transported to a different location. Inaddition, after the product has been packaged, the availability of theproduct for purchase by a customer is recorded at a step 176 in aninformation system 174 of the manufacturer (and/or a salesrepresentative of the manufacturer of the product). This recordationstep 176 includes recording sufficient information so that salespersonnel and other appropriate personnel associated with themanufacturer can view the inventory of products that are available forpurchase. Such information includes, but is not limited to, identifiersfor each product (e.g. a serial number), information identifying thebrand name and/or type of product, information regarding the features ofthe product, manufacturing date, etc.

At a sales step 178, one or more customers place an order for one ormore of the products manufactured during step 166. The product ordersare recorded by a customer service representative 180 who enters thepurchase information into the information system 174. The customerservice representative 180 (or other appropriate personnel) also entersinto information system 174 data identifying the configuration needs forthe product. For example, if the product includes patient supportapparatuses 20, information is entered into information system 174identifying the particular nurse call system(s) 62 and/or room controls60 at the purchasers healthcare facility 56, and/or other informationthat identifies how the patient support apparatuses 20 should beconfigured in order to properly operate at the purchaser's healthcarefacility 56.

This configuration information is transferred to off-board device 128 ata step 182. In some embodiments, this transfer takes place wirelessly,while in other embodiments, this transfer takes place via one or morewires. When accomplished wirelessly, information system 174 may becoupled to a local area network with one or more wireless access pointsthat allow off-board device 128 to wirelessly communicate with the localarea network, including information system 174. Other manners oftransferring the configuration information to off-board device 128 arealso possible.

The configuration information transferred to off-board device 128includes, in some embodiments, includes an index matching identifyingspecific configurations to specific products. For example, theconfiguration information may include a list of serial numbers, or otherproduct identifiers, along with an index identifying correspondingconfiguration settings for each of those particular products. In otherembodiments, the configuration information transferred to off-boarddevice 128 may include an index matching specific configuration settingsto generic product information, such as product models and/or producttypes, along with a quantity identifying how many of each product modelor type has been ordered by a particular customer. In the latter case,the information does not specify which individual products are to beshipped to a particular customer, but instead identifies the totalquantity of each type or model of product ordered by the customer, aswell as the configuration settings required for that particularcustomer. The user thereafter selects the property quantity from thewarehouse of the identified types of patient support apparatuses andconfigures them using off-board device 128.

In still other embodiments, an index is transmitted to off-board device128 that indexes a particular customer to a set of patient supportapparatuses 20 ordered by that customer, along with the configurationsettings for that particular set of patient support apparatuses 20. Insome such embodiments, off-board device 128 is adapted to display ondisplay 152 the customer, corresponding configuration settings, and/orthe specific patient support apparatuses 20 ordered by that customer.

After the configuration information is transferred to off-board device128, one or more personnel associated with the product manufacturer useoff-board device 128 to configure the products that are to be shipped toa particular customer. This involves, in some instances, an individualcarrying off-board device 128 to a location near each packaged productand wirelessly transferring the appropriate configuration settings tothat product from off-board device 128. For example, when the productsinclude patient support apparatuses 20, the individual carries off-boarddevice 128 to a location within communication range of antenna 110which, as noted, may be affixed to the packaging of the patient supportapparatus 20. Once within communication range, the individual controlsoff-board device 128 such that the appropriate configuration settingsare transferred to that patient support apparatus 20.

When configuring patient support apparatuses 20 using off-board device128, off-board device 128 may display on display 152 a list of thepatient support apparatuses 20 that it has successfully configured sofar so that the individual is more easily able to determine when all ofthe patient support apparatuses 20 for a particular customer order havebeen configured. Further, off-board device 128 may programmed such thatit automatically sends the appropriate configuration settings to apatient support apparatus 20 whenever it comes within communicationrange of antenna 110. When configured to carry this configurationprocess out automatically, off-board device 128 receives an identifierfrom patient support apparatus 20 in response to an interrogation signaltransmitted by off-board device 128. Off-board device 128 then uses thatidentifier to determine what configuration setting is to be transferredto that particular patient support apparatus 20 based upon theinformation it received from information system 174.

When the configuration setting has been successfully transferred fromoff-board device 128 to patient support apparatus 20, a confirmationindication may be displayed on display 152. Such automatic transfer ofconfiguration settings to patient support apparatuses 20 allows anindividual to easily configure all of the patient support apparatuses 20for a particular customer order by simply walking within the vicinity ofthose patient support apparatuses 20 destined for that particularcustomer. As noted, this configuration process is adapted to take placewhile the patient support apparatuses 20 are contained within packaging144 and it is not necessary for the individual to remove any of thispackaging in order to configure the patient support apparatuses 20.

In an alternative embodiment, the configuration process is carried outby an individual with some or all of the steps taking place manually.When done manually, the individual may have to manipulate one or morecontrols on off-board device 128 to cause transceiver 156 to send out aninitial signal to patient support apparatus 20 to determine the identityof the patient support apparatus 20 and/or to confirm the patientsupport apparatus 20 is in communication range. Further, the manualconfiguration process may require the individual to select whichspecific configuration settings are to be transferred to one or more ofthe patient support apparatuses 20. Confirmation that a particularpatient support apparatus 20 received the wirelessly transmittedconfiguration setting may also, in some manual embodiments, beaccomplished by the individual pressing a confirmation control thatsends a wireless inquiry to the patient support apparatus 20 asking itto confirm the successful receipt and storage of the configurationsettings in memory 120.

Regardless of whether or not the off-board configuration tool 128 isused in an automatic, manual, or hybrid manner to configure the patientsupport apparatuses 20, the patient support apparatuses 20 arethereafter shipped to the intended destination in step 184. Uponarrival, the patient support apparatuses 20 (or other type of product)are unpackaged (i.e. packaging 144 is removed). Due to the differentstrengths of adhesive used on the ends of temporary cable 122, theremoval of the packaging 144 from patient support apparatus 20 alsoremoves temporary cable 122 from circuit board 146 and patient supportapparatus 20 (as well as antenna 110). Thereafter, when the patientsupport apparatuses 20 are first powered on, controller 94 reads theconfiguration settings received from off-board device 128 (which arestored in memory 120) and transfers those configuration settings tomemory 114. Once transferred to memory 114, configuration circuitry 106changes—as necessary—the neutral state of switches 116 according to thereceived configuration settings. Once in operation, when patient supportapparatus 20 is to communicate information to nurse call system 62and/or room controls 60, controller 94 changes the neutral settings ofthe one or more corresponding switches 116 by sending a control signalalong the corresponding control line 140.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that a variety ofdifferent modifications can be made to patient support apparatus 20and/or method 160. For example, although method 160 illustrates patientsupport apparatuses 20 being configured at a warehouse or storagefacility using off-board device 128, the location of configuration step182 can be changed. If desired, one or more of the patient supportapparatuses 20 can be configured after they are received at a particularcustomers healthcare facility 56, or while they are located in adifferent location.

Additionally, the antenna 110 can be moved from packaging 144 andintegrated into patient support apparatus 20, particularly in thoseembodiments of patient support apparatus 20 where communicationcircuitry 98 communicates using far field communication, or anothercommunication protocol that has a range large enough to allow wirelesscommunication from a device positioned outside of packaging 144. When sointegrated, the patient support apparatuses 20 can be configured usingoff-board device 128 regardless of whether or not packaging 144 ispresent or not. This enables configuration step 182 to be performed attimes both before packaging 144 is added and after packaging 144 isremoved (or to avoid using packaging 144 altogether). In someembodiments, the antenna may be incorporated into an integrated circuit,such as an integrated circuit of transceiver 118.

Another modification is to replace and/or supplement the adhesive usedto secure temporary cable 122 to either or both of packaging 144 andpatient support apparatus 20. For example, one or more suitablefasteners can be used to secure cable 122 to packaging 144 and/orpatient support apparatus 20. Still further, although cable 122 has beendescribed herein as being directly coupled to circuit board 146 ofpatient support apparatus 20, it will be understood that cable 122 canbe coupled to any other suitably conductive structure of patient supportapparatus 20 that is in electrical communication with communicationcircuitry 98.

Other modifications to patient support apparatus 20 are also possible,such as one or more of the following modifications to control system 92.Instead of using MOSFETs for one or more of switches 116, differenttypes of transistors may be used, or relays may be used, or still othertypes of switches may be used. Instead of communicating configurationinformation from controller 94 to memory 114 over an I-Squared-C bus130, other types of communication busses may be used (e.g. ControllerArea Network (CAN) bus, a Local Interconnect Network (LIN) bus,Firewire, RS-232, RS-485, a Universal Serial Bus (USB), Ethernet, and/ora Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus), as well as non-buscommunication. Memory 114 may also be implemented in other mannersbesides EEPROM. Still other variations are possible.

It will also be understood that, when patient support apparatus 20 is inoperation, the data it communicates to nurse call system 62 and/or roomcontrols 60 via cable interface 90 may include data beyond what has beenexplicitly discussed so far. Some examples of additional data that maybe communicated via switches 116 and cable interface 90 include: whetherone or more siderails 36 are in a down position (or an up position);whether the position of any of the siderails 36 changes from an initialstate; whether a brake on patient support apparatus 20 is set; whetherexit detection system 50 is armed; whether support deck 30 is at itslowest height; whether head section 42 has pivoted to less than athreshold angle (e.g. 30 degrees); and whether patient support apparatus20 has been set or not to monitor a particular set of conditions. Thesevarious items of data are detected by one or more corresponding sensors96 that communicate with controller 94 (FIG. 5).

Still further, it will be understood that, although the foregoingdiscussion of patient support apparatuses 20 and off-board device 128has focused on configuration settings for proper communication withnurse call system 62 and/or room control 60, additional and/oralternative types of configuration settings may be transferred fromoff-board device 128 to patient support apparatuses 20. Such alternativeconfiguration settings may include one or more of the following:configuration settings for loading, executing, and/or retrievingsoftware applications, configuration settings identifying one or moreoptional functional features or components of patient support apparatus20 and/or instructions for using the options features and/or functions,configuration settings that include passwords and/or other data neededto establish communication via WiFi (or other protocols) with accesspoints and/or a LAN installed at a particular healthcare facility 56,configuration settings for one or more sensors incorporated into thepatient support apparatus; and still other types of configurationsettings. Off-board device 128 may therefore be used to transfer any andall configuration settings needed by patient support apparatuses 20 (orother types of medical device products), thereby easing the process ofconfiguring patient support apparatuses 20 for their specific healthcarefacility 56.

Also, as noted, the configuration techniques disclosed herein usingoff-board device 128 may be used for configuring products other thanpatient support apparatuses 20, such as, but not limited to, wirelessheadwall units. Some examples of these wireless headwall units aredisclosed in commonly assigned copending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/819,844 filed Aug. 6, 2015, by inventors Krishna Bhimavarapu etal. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH WIRELESS HEADWALLCOMMUNICATION, which was previously incorporated herein by reference.When the configuration techniques disclosed herein are applied towireless headwall units, the wireless headwall units may be modified toinclude a temporary cable 122 and antenna 110. The antenna may beincorporated into the product's packaging and the temporary cable 122may be permanently affixed to the packaging and non-permanently affixedto a circuit board within the wireless headwall unit (or a port orconductor in communication with the circuit board). Such an arrangementallows the wireless headwall unit to be configured while still containedwithin its packaging.

In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, the antenna and/ortransceiver may be adapted to allow communication over a relativelyshort range so that the patient support apparatus is only configurableby an off-board device positioned within the vicinity of the patientsupport apparatus. In this manner, off-board devices positioned outsideof a warehouse, room, or other facility will be out of range of thepatient support apparatus, thereby increasing the security of thepatient support apparatus and hindering the ability of unauthorizedindividuals to change the configuration settings of a patient supportapparatus.

Various additional alterations and changes beyond those alreadymentioned herein can be made to the above-described embodiments. Thisdisclosure is presented for illustrative purposes and should not beinterpreted as an exhaustive description of all embodiments or to limitthe scope of the claims to the specific elements illustrated ordescribed in connection with these embodiments. For example, and withoutlimitation, any individual element(s) of the described embodiments maybe replaced by alternative elements that provide substantially similarfunctionality or otherwise provide adequate operation. This includes,for example, presently known alternative elements, such as those thatmight be currently known to one skilled in the art, and alternativeelements that may be developed in the future, such as those that oneskilled in the art might, upon development, recognize as an alternative.Any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using thearticles “a,” “an,” “the” or “said,” is not to be construed as limitingthe element to the singular.

What is claimed is:
 1. A patient support apparatus comprising: a frame;a support surface adapted to support a patient thereon; an antennaadapted to be affixed to packaging of the patient support apparatus; andcommunication circuitry in communication with the antenna, thecommunication circuitry adapted to receive and store a configurationsetting from an off-board device via the antenna while the patientsupport apparatus is contained within the packaging and not physicallycoupled to an external source of electrical power.
 2. The patientsupport apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an electrical conductorhaving a first end coupled to a port and a second end coupled to theantenna, the first end adapted to break away from the port when thepackaging is removed from the patient support apparatus, and the secondend adapted to remain affixed to the packaging when the packaging isremoved from the patient support apparatus.
 3. The patient supportapparatus of claim 1 wherein the communication circuitry receiveselectrical power from the off-board device via the antenna and uses thereceived electrical power to store the configuration setting.
 4. Thepatient support apparatus of claim 1 wherein the communication circuitryis adapted to transmit an identifier through the antenna to theoff-board device, the identifier uniquely identifying the patientsupport apparatus.
 5. The patient support apparatus of claim 1 furthercomprising: a plurality of switches; an interface adapted to receive anurse call cable, the interface including a multi-pin connector inelectrical communications with the plurality of switches such that anurse call system off-board the patient support apparatus is able todetermine a status of the plurality of switches via signals sent throughthe nurse call cable; and configuration circuity in communication withthe communication circuitry and adapted to set an initial state of theplurality of switches based on the configuration setting, theconfiguration circuitry further adapted to receive an identifier fromthe off-board device and use the configuration setting from theoff-board device only if the identifier matches an authorizedidentifier.
 6. The patient support apparatus of claim 5 furthercomprising an exit detection system adapted to detect when a patientexits from the support surface, the exit detection system changing astate of at least one of the switches in response to detecting a patientexiting from the support surface.
 7. The patient support apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein the off-board device is a handheld electronic deviceadapted to be carried by a user.
 8. The patient support apparatus ofclaim 1 further comprising a network transceiver adapted to communicatewith a local area network when the patient support apparatus isphysically coupled to an external source of electrical power.
 9. Apatient support apparatus comprising: a frame; a support surface adaptedto support a patient thereon; an interface adapted to couple to a cablehaving a plurality of electrical conductors; a plurality of switcheselectrically coupled to the interface; an antenna adapted to wirelesslycommunicate with an off-board device; and communication circuitryadapted to transmit an identifier through the antenna to the off-boarddevice, the identifier uniquely identifying the patient supportapparatus, the communication circuitry further adapted to receive fromthe off-board device a configuration setting for configuring theplurality of switches.
 10. The patient support apparatus of claim 9further comprising a display in communication with the communicationcircuitry, the display adapted to display an indicator indicating thatthe configuration setting has been successfully received from theoff-board device.
 11. The patient support apparatus of claim 9 whereinthe antenna is coupled to a near field transceiver adapted tocommunicate with the off-board device using near field communication.12. The patient support apparatus of claim 9 wherein the communicationcircuitry is adapted to receive multiple sets of configuration settingsfrom the off-board device while the patient support apparatus is notcoupled to a power source, and the patient support apparatus furthercomprises a controller adapted to select one of the multiple sets ofconfiguration settings when the patient support apparatus is coupled toa power source.
 13. The patient support apparatus of claim 9 wherein theinterface is adapted to receive a multi-pin connector that electricallycommunicates with the plurality of switches such that a nurse callsystem off-board the patient support apparatus is able to determine astatus of at least some of the plurality of switches via signals sentthrough the multi-pin connector, and wherein the patient supportapparatus further comprises an exit detection system adapted to detectwhen a patient exits from the support surface, the exit detection systemchanging a state of at least one of the switches in response todetecting a patient exiting from the support surface.
 14. The patientsupport apparatus of claim 9 wherein the communication circuitry isadapted to transmit the identifier through the antenna while the patientsupport apparatus is contained within packaging and not physicallycoupled to an external source of electrical power.
 15. The patientsupport apparatus of claim 14 wherein the antenna is affixed to thepackaging, the communication circuitry receives electrical power fromthe off-board device via the antenna, and the patient support apparatusfurther comprises an electrical conductor having a first end coupled tothe communication circuitry and a second end coupled to the antenna, thefirst end adapted to break away from the communication circuitry whenthe packaging is removed from the patient support apparatus, and thesecond end adapted to remain affixed to the packaging when the packagingis removed from the patient support apparatus.
 16. A patient supportapparatus comprising: a frame; a support surface adapted to support apatient thereon; an antenna adapted to be affixed to packaging of thepatient support apparatus; a first electronic memory for storinginstructions used by a processor onboard the patient support apparatus,the first electronic memory requiring an onboard battery or a power cordconnection of the patient support apparatus to an electrical outlet inorder for data to be written to the first electronic memory; a secondelectronic memory, the second electronic memory adapted to allow data tobe written thereto using electrical power wirelessly supplied from anoff-board device; and communication circuitry in communication with theantenna, the communication circuitry adapted to receive a configurationsetting for configuring the patient support apparatus from the off-boarddevice via the antenna, the communication circuitry also adapted tostore the configuration setting in the second electronic memory.
 17. Thepatient support apparatus of claim 16 further comprising configurationcircuitry adapted to configure the patient support apparatus inaccordance with the configuration setting when the patient supportapparatus receives electrical power from an onboard battery or from apower cord connected to an electrical outlet.
 18. The patient supportapparatus of claim 16 further comprising a network transceiver adaptedto communicate with a local area network when the patient supportapparatus is physically coupled to an external source of electricalpower.
 19. The patient support apparatus of claim 16 further comprising:a plurality of switches; an interface adapted to receive a nurse callcable, the interface including a multi-pin connector in electricalcommunications with the plurality of switches such that a nurse callsystem off-board the patient support apparatus is able to determine astatus of the plurality of switches via signals sent through the nursecall cable; and configuration circuity in communication with thecommunication circuitry and adapted to set an initial state of theplurality of switches based on the configuration setting.
 20. Thepatient support apparatus of claim 16 wherein the antenna is adapted tobe affixed to packaging of the patient support apparatus, and thecommunication circuitry is adapted to receive the configuration settingwhile the patient support apparatus is contained within packaging.